Missouri citizens authorized legal mobile and retail sports betting, permitting regulated books to take bets next year.

The sports betting ballot procedure passed by a slim bulk early Wednesday early morning after more than 2.9 million votes were counted.

Seven of the eight states surrounding Missouri allow mobile or retail sportsbooks. That consists of Kansas and Illinois, which divided the Kansas City and St. Louis metro locations with Missouri, respectively.

Missouri is the 39th state to authorize legal sportsbooks and the 31st to green light statewide mobile wagering. It is the only state to approve sports betting wagering this year.

" Missouri has some of the very best sports betting fans on the planet and they showed up big for their favorite groups on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, said in a statement. "On behalf of all six of Missouri's professional sports betting franchises, we want to thank the Missouri citizens who made their voices heard by authorizing Amendment 2. This historical vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legalize sports betting and ensures we no longer lose valuable tax income to our neighboring states. Most significantly, the passage of Amendment 2 means a brand-new, dedicated, long-term financing stream for Missouri classrooms."

Missouri sports betting next actions

Voter approval suggests approximately 14 mobile sportsbooks could start accepting bets next year. It is not likely all 14 readily available licenses are utilized.

DraftKings and FanDuel funded nearly every dollar of the "yes" project and will certainly apply to take bets in the Show Me State. They will likely each pursue the two "untethered" licenses readily available without having to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar gambling establishment or sports betting group (and pay an accompanying cost).

Six licenses are offered to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, despite opposing the ballot procedure, will likely utilize its license to introduce the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which manages ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will also likely launch their particular books.

The other 3 operators are Boyd Gaming, Century Casino, and Affinity Interactive. It stays unclear if they will introduce mobile sportsbooks.

The staying 6 licenses are booked for each of the major expert sports betting teams that play home games in Missouri: MLB's Kansas City Royals and Cardinals, the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, NHL's St. Louis Blues, MLS' St. Louis City SC and the NWSL's Kansas City Current. The sports betting organizations were among the most popular advocates of the ballot procedure.

Together with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri bettors need to anticipate other prominent nationwide brand names consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market access.

Launch likelihood tiers IF Missouri voters approve sports betting wagering:

Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings
Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet
Highly likely: Fanatics, bet365, ESPN BET
Are Already Reside In Illinois, So Yeah(?): BetRivers, Acid Rock, Circa
Opposed Referendum But Still Might: Caesars

Missouri's tally step allows every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their respective homes. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments managed by the 6 gambling establishment operators are expected to open in-person wagering choices such as wagering kiosks and possibly devoted, full-service sportsbooks.

The six sports betting teams can also open in-person sportsbooks within or adjacent to their respective home playing venues. Missouri will sign up with Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. amongst jurisdictions that allow in-stadium retail sportsbooks.

The language around the ballot procedure needs the first licensed sportsbooks to start accepting wagers by Dec. 1, 2025. Operators will likely deal with regulators to go live before kick-off of the fall 2025 football season, perennially books' most lucrative time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting wagering background

The effective Missouri sports betting project comes in spite of millions in financing opposing the step from among the state's biggest gambling stakeholders.

Caesars spent countless dollars to defeat the step. In many other states that connect online sports betting wagering with a state's brick-and-mortar gambling establishments, an operator is granted at least one license per handled residential or commercial property.

In that situation in Missouri, Caesars would be afforded at least 3 potential licenses, one for each casino it handles. Instead, Caesars just has one. In states with the license-per-property design, business can either open additional in-house books or, more typically, farm out the license to a competitor that pays an accompanying cost in exchange.

FanDuel and DraftKings, which have approximately two-thirds of U.S. across the country sports betting manage market share, might potentially have a leg up on their rivals by earning the set of untethered licenses. It remains to be seen which 2 books will earn these slots, however the language around the ballot step would seem to favor the two nationwide market leaders.

Polling earlier in the year showed the "yes" vote with a minor lead. Support efforts were strengthened by tens of millions spent by DraftKings and FanDuel.

A series of television and radio advertisements focused on the income legal sportsbooks would create for Missouri public education. Opponents, moneyed mostly by Caesars, argued the supporters' advertisements were deceptive and the 10s of millions of projected dollars raised would have a negligible effect in a state that already spends billions on education each year.